20:50 <Crion> The third week of October, technically, but this year October will stretch lazily over five full weeks. The month isn't half-done yet, but it's close. The Wherehouse are cop-killers, but they've befriended a police. The Hedge is strange like that. Also he's probably not really their friend, per se, as everything's very transactional, but he doesn't seem to like your enemies all that much. 20:50 <Crion> Anyway! How thoroughly did Stewart update the Walking Man's wiki page? There was a stub, with a little bit about him being a Hedge manifestation of significant potency and a 'needs further research.' 20:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart didn't hold anything back, since it wouldn't occur to him to and he wasn't told to. The Walking Man is a powerful hobgoblin in the form of a giant 19th century lawman, who professes to enforce 'the laws of the Hedge' and seems to be largely benign or even benevolent if you don't violate them, whatever they are. He has the power to 'deputize' people by bestowing on them Tokens that 20:55 <VoxPVoxD> will bring him calling in an emergency. The Walking Man makes a specific proviso that he will not go against the Keepers. 20:56 <Crion> Five minutes after updating, he will get an IM from QUOTH|THE|BITTER|WIND: 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 20:56 <Crion> The account will then log off. 20:57 <VoxPVoxD> Nice. 20:57 <Crion> How's Stewart's Monday night going? 21:00 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's... feeling pretty good! He doesn't stream Monday nights, but this afternoon he's recording a podcast to talk about leaked patch notes and listen to the hum from the Fortnite black hole. That leaves basically his whole evening and beyond free. He's thinking about Lauren, vampires, and fluctuations in the price of Exalted Orbs. 21:03 <Crion> The Autumn Court would be very interested in that last one until they realized whence it came. Lauren's off-line tonight, for whatever reason -- she does that sometimes. Well, not off-line, but Do Not Disturb. And the DND are rare enough that they seem like they might be worth respecting. 21:05 <VoxPVoxD> He keeps getting distracted, forgetting about it, but remembering just in time not to send anything. He's not sure if that sends Lauren a Typing... notification. If she's not around, and he's not busy... hmm. It's early enough to pop down to the Wherehouse. He has an idea. It's a shame Maggie's not online constantly, so he has to visit her in person. 21:06 <Crion> Chilly night in Baltimore! Well. Relatively so. It's 66 degrees out, but that's down from the 85 earlier this week. 21:06 <Crion> So actually kind of perfect weather. You don't get that smoky fall smell this far into the city, though. Not yet at least. 21:08 <VoxPVoxD> The smell of smoke reminds him of Maggie too. No train to Guysborough, and ain't that a shame... It's a nice enough night that he considers walking, but that consigns Maggie to walking if she takes him up on his idea. So he takes the car down to the Inner Harbor before he enters the elevator at Lexington Market. 21:10 <Crion> It's a quiet night in the Wherehouse. Steve parades by, wearing a newspaper hat and riding a rabbit the size of a dog. He nods to Stewart as he heads out towards the Hedge. 21:10 <Crion> honk 21:11 <VoxPVoxD> Cool. Cool. Alright. Cool. Is Maggie up? 21:18 <dammitwho> She is! The Great British Bake-off has managed to trickle its way into the Wherehouse's media server, and, well. "Heya, Stewart! How's things?" 21:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart sits in one of the armchairs. "Hey! Things are good. I've got the night off from work so I'm doing some stuff for the Court. Remember that wiki I told you about? I'm supposed to populate it with information on vampires, so I was thinking of doing some research, maybe exploring the city a bit. You wanna come?" 21:23 <dammitwho> "Vampires, eh?" Hmm. She doesn't hold much with vampires, on account of they kill people and drain their blood for sustenance. But the alternative is letting Stewart go on his own, and that's just not on, as the Brits apparently say. "Sure thing, just lemme get my coat on. It's getting chilly out there. Autumn at last." 21:24 <VoxPVoxD> "Yeah!" He's not sure how often Maggie gets out and about on the mortal side of the Hedge nowadays, but this feels nice. It's like when you surprise visit your grandma. 21:24 <Crion> Wow. 21:27 <VoxPVoxD> In a good way!! 21:27 <dammitwho> He meant mom. 21:28 <Crion> There are a couple different avenues through which Stewart could begin his inquiry, from the obvious but cowardly (pester Santander) to the obvious but stupid (walk down as many blind alleys as it takes). Surely he has better ideas? 21:28 <dammitwho> "So what's the plan?" She hollers from the coat rack. "Some sort of whistle that only vampires can hear? A box with a blood pack under it?" 21:36 <VoxPVoxD> Pestering Santander is out. Santander gave him the job! The point is to demonstrate his own ability to do research. "Well, going at vampires can be kind of dangerous, because of institutional problems and the threat of spontaneous violence. I was thinking we could bother some cops instead." 21:42 <dammitwho> Maggie looks at him in the manner of a displeased Daffy Duck. 21:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "No, it's okay! These cops are already dead. I watched them die. Like for real." 21:43 <VoxPVoxD> "Helped hide the bodies. Are you ready to go?" 21:45 <dammitwho> "Oh, good gravy. Yes, I'm ready." 21:57 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Great. I was thinking we'd start by cross-referencing public records to try and put patterns together, see if we can get an idea of which other local cops might be under the influence of vampire blood." 22:00 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hoorm. Huurarum. Wouldn't the Smitten-and-Smote brothers be keeping an eye on the police and such?" 22:01 <dammitwho> "Bet the two of us could ask Smitten, since he and I're in the same Court. Plus he seems more, uh, approachable than the other one." 22:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Oh, good idea. Do you think he'd be at the Sidereal?" 22:02 <Crion> Maggie knows it's either there or the North Avenue Community Center. And this time of night, probably the Sidereal. 22:05 <dammitwho> "Probably, this time of night." 22:10 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Cool. I'll drive." 22:10 <VoxPVoxD> And then he does. 22:11 <Crion> The Sidereal is doing tidy business tonight -- students, mostly, since it's a Monday -- and there's free parking for them in the back; seems like policy to keep the spots they usually reserve for touring bands free for any changelings who pop in on nights when there isn't live music. 22:11 <dammitwho> What's his car like? 22:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart drives a 2015 Hyundai Sonata that he got off want ads with only a few thousand miles on it. Being able to pay cash was a big selling point. https://i.imgur.com/xXPmhae.jpg 22:13 <Crion> ...Red? 22:14 <VoxPVoxD> Orange. 22:14 <VoxPVoxD> It's his favorite color. 22:14 <VoxPVoxD> ...shut up. 22:14 <Crion> So it only goes slightly faster. 22:14 <VoxPVoxD> It's a city car, after all. 22:14 <dammitwho> What's it got inside? GPS? Seat warmers? Touchscreen? 22:16 <VoxPVoxD> No to seat-warmers, yes to the others. His phone's plugged into the dash and seems to be overriding the radio somehow. 22:19 <dammitwho> Delightful! Probably hard to repair, though. 22:19 <dammitwho> What's he playing? 22:20 <VoxPVoxD> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnf7Weh7pRU&list=PLqoVwH1yoXtUaAPpwMN3eX6ralHeb0TEv 22:20 <Crion> Mmmm. 22:22 <dammitwho> Making idle conversation: "I wonder if I can play the harmonica." 22:22 <dammitwho> Making idle conversation: "I wonder if I can play the harmonica." 22:22 <VoxPVoxD> He hopes whatever Lauren's doing is low-stress. "You ever tried?" 22:24 <dammitwho> "Nope. Didn't know I could play the guitar either until Harlan gave me Topper. Funny old world." 22:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's weird how that happens. I quoted Kant at Melanie the other day. I've never read Kant." 22:25 <VoxPVoxD> Was there a movie maybe...? 22:27 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Something worth noodling on. Maybe the Lord Mustard of the Unknown Wizards knows something about it? Anyway. Tonight is a night for vampires!" She says that last in a Bela Lugosi accent. 22:29 <Crion> When they get to the front, the door's being worked by a guy looking hard in the Mask, but his entire Mien is like...a cute goat. Melanie probably knows this guy! You've probably seen him around before in passing...? 22:30 <Crion> Capra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WKN0XF8-3Q Elohim, Adonai, can you hear your people cry? 22:33 <Crion> He narrows his eyes at Stewart as the chorus kicks in. "Hey." 22:33 <dammitwho> Haha, neat! 22:33 <dammitwho> Haha, neat! 22:34 <dammitwho> "Evening!" She says, cheerfully. 22:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks slightly embarrassed. This is where Maggie helpfully jumps in and staves off awkwardness. "Hey." 22:35 <Crion> "You here for--" 22:35 <Crion> A loud twenty year old has lost his patience slightly to the goat guy's left. "Hey! They can't just cut in--" 22:35 <Crion> Capra: "They can do whatever the fuck I say they can do." 22:37 <Crion> He looks back at you two. "Here on business?" 22:37 <Crion> He's got a summer Mantle that's fiercer than it looks like it should be. 22:38 <dammitwho> Maggie nods. "Looking for Smitten." 22:40 <Crion> Capra nods. "Check the upstairs lounge." Then he waves you through. The 20 year old looks like he's going to say something, but Capra immediately moves to him and says, "ID?" 22:43 <Crion> Inside, there's a DJ spinning something...he's a changeling...and a mortal bouncer standing by the stairs. He gets the signal from Capra, though, waves you up the stairs. You remember him from your previous visits. 22:44 <Crion> Bartender's a mortal woman, early twenties. The Kitchen pokes his head out of, well, the kitchen briefly to deliver food and complain about something. 22:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's ears are ringing slightly. He heads up the stairs unless Maggie has another idea. 22:45 <dammitwho> Maggie will order the most unusually-named beer they have that isn't an IPA. She learned that lesson early. 22:46 <Crion> She gets a strawberry shandy. It's called STRAWS ARE KILLING US. 22:47 <dammitwho> Good tip for the bartender, too. She didn't need to learn that lesson. 22:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart isn't drinking. 22:49 <Crion> The Kitchen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoJxBEQRLd0 Prepared in the classic technique: first you pound the fish flat with a mallet, then you slash through the skin; Give the the belly a slice, then you rub some salt in. 22:49 <Crion> DJ Fuck You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UWHFdEkOm4 [sounds of violence] 22:51 <VoxPVoxD> That chef always terrified Stewart as a kid. Love to chop up and serve little fish. 22:52 <Crion> Upstairs, there's a private party. Mostly pretty humans of an assortment of genders, but in the center, David Smitten, holding some small semblance of court while trying to tell the bartender how to handle rounds for the rest of the night, and...off in the corner some kid from Winter? 22:52 <Crion> That's his mantle anyway. 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> The DJ's music sounds like something you'd hear play on a scene video game crack or keygen. Good pump-up music. 22:53 <Crion> The Mask is a sad boy; the Mien is a catboy. He seems to be being chatted up by a guy his age and only slightly less sad. 22:54 <Crion> David Smitten: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaPrQa3oMy0 We are the murderous pair, that went to jail and we murdered the murderers there. 22:56 <Crion> Jordan Kit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE I was following the pack, all swallowed in their coats, with scarves of red tied 'round their throat. 22:58 <Crion> Smitten will see you coming from, well, something like 22 feet away. 22:58 <Crion> "Maggie!" 22:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart will smile at Jordan before Smitten locks on. 22:59 <Crion> Jordan smiles back. 22:59 <Crion> "And--Stewart!" 22:59 <Crion> He almost covers up not immediately recalling Stewart's name perfectly. 23:00 <Crion> Then he frowns. "You didn't pay for that, did you?" To Maggie. 23:00 <Crion> She did not. 23:00 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's not bothered, he doesn't think they've met more than in passing. 23:00 <dammitwho> "Heyoo! There's the man we came to see! Gave the bartender a little something, that's all." 23:01 <Crion> He grins and nods. "What brings you out up here on a Monday night? Hey, excuse me," he says, waving both of you with him and shooing the rest of the crowd away as he leads you to the same booth where Banthem and Kingsley negotiated...whatever it was they negotiated, the last time you were up here. 23:09 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Vampyres!" She says in the same spooky voice. "Stewart and I are fillin' out the encyclopedia page, as it were, and I thought maybe you could point us in the right direction." 23:10 <Crion> He smiles, slaps the table like that's the funniest thing he's ever heard, leans forward and says still smiling: "Keep your fucking voice down." 23:11 <VoxPVoxD> Sharp intake of breath. 23:11 <Crion> "TWO MORE OVER HERE!" he calls out to the bar, and a shandy and his drink, a gin and juice, will arrive forthwith. 23:11 <dammitwho> Hey, she wasn't *that* loud. What the heck. 23:12 <Crion> Sipping his: "So you're working on something." 23:14 <dammitwho> Maggie'll let Stewart handle this, because she's disgruntled. There was no need to snap. 23:15 <Crion> To Maggie: "I'm sorry for snapping. But...that group...takes all this secret shit real seriously." 23:16 <dammitwho> "Sure, I can see that." That makes her feel better. This Smitten guy's all right. 23:16 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'm trying to build the knowledge base for the Court. The one thing I know first-hand is that the, uh, research subject has some connections in the police force. Maggie thought you'd be able to help with knowing who in the BPD we might be able to, try to talk to, or at least use as a lead." 23:19 <Crion> Smitten nods. "Thought it might be that. So, I have some things to balance here. The first is that I know this is a test so I'm not going to cross Santander by making it easy. The second is that I think that's all, frankly, stupid, and if I'm sending you walking down that alley you need to be prepared. On that note, I'm glad Maggie's here and you're not doing this alone. No offense intended, 23:19 <Crion> but having people you trust around you when dealing with the Baltimore Court is a good idea." 23:20 <dammitwho> "Wish we didn't all have the same darn names for things." 23:20 <VoxPVoxD> Yeah, who would have guessed vampires and the True Fae would both love feudal aesthetics. 23:21 <Crion> "With that in mind, here's the deal: police enforce their will best because they're stupid, they love trinkets, and they have no oversight. Those cops that...ended up in the river...they had stupid friends who love trinkets with no oversight. And while they weren't stupid enough to give quotes to the reporters writing the pieces directly ABOUT their buddies going swimming, they were stupid 23:21 <Crion> enough to give quotes on the follow up. The crackdown." 23:22 <Crion> "Look for public interest stories over the last two weeks. Guys at the bottom of the ladder giving quotes about how something needs to be done." 23:22 <Crion> "These guys love talking because they're always talking about themselves." 23:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Thank you, that's really helpful." 23:27 <Crion> He sips his drink. "It's helpful, but maybe it isn't kind." 23:29 <VoxPVoxD> "Do you have any advice for interacting with them?" 23:29 <Crion> Smitten: "Yeah. If they're stupid enough to bite you, let them. I'll hurt them more than it hurts you." 23:29 <Crion> "Well, unless they're true psychos." 23:30 <Crion> "Our blood's like LSD on speed for them." 23:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "...huh. Good to know." 23:30 <Crion> He grimaces. "So either they're not expecting it, and you're good -- or they are, and you're fucked." 23:31 <Crion> Smitten nods. "Take it you have other places to be tonight, so exit with my compliments. I'll tell Amelia you were by, Maggie." 23:31 <dammitwho> She raises her glass. "Cheers." 23:31 <Crion> "Yeah." He finishes his drink. 23:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's on his phone almost immediately after they're out, digging through articles. "So many sites have terrible mobile interfaces..." 23:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Three names pop up: Officer Jennifer Gonzalez, in both an article on the death of the two officers and the detective, then again on a follow-up, but still specifically about the three dead cops -- one specifically, Officer Carlos Urrutia. Then there's Officer Colm Barston and Sergeant Warner Lossum, both of whom appear three times in follow-up pieces, but are only referenced once 23:41 <VoxPVoxD> in pieces about the murders -- Lossum was the two officers' direct sergeant." 23:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Three names pop up: Officer Jennifer Gonzalez, in both an article on the death of the two officers and the detective, then again on a follow-up, but still specifically about the three dead cops -- one specifically, Officer Carlos Urrutia. Then there's Officer Colm Barston and Sergeant Warner Lossum, both of whom appear three times in follow-up pieces, but are only referenced 23:41 <VoxPVoxD> once in pieces about the murders -- Lossum was the two officers' direct sergeant." 23:42 <dammitwho> "Huuurm. Where do we go from that?" 23:44 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "The sergeant probably knows more, but it's also riskier to reach out to him. I think we should start with Gonzalez." 23:45 <VoxPVoxD> "She's maybe less likely to be in with the vampires, but it's also less likely the wizards have an eye on her." 23:46 <Crion> Gonzalez works out of the Eastern District. Real question is whether she's renting or a homeowner. Renter will be harder to find. 23:53 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So... how do you feel about stalking a grieving, armed woman?" 23:54 <dammitwho> "Jeepers. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound." She adds, "I don't know how much use I'll be, though..." 23:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think running into a lone young man would bs scarier than running into a lone young man and a sweet... lady." 23:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Plus you have superpowers." 23:59 <dammitwho> "So does she," Maggie points out. "But I'll help however ya need." 00:00 <Crion> Jennifer Gonzalez, soon but never to be née Gonzalez, lives in one of the new apartment buildings in Middle East, Baltimore. The name's a bit on point. A prestige TV show made some jokes about it. It's being heavily gentrified, and she's a new arrival, or new-ish. Her income is different but Gonzalez, it appears, is one of the few BPD cops who is actually from and lives in the city. 00:00 <Crion> She's on the third floor. You go two doors down from the stairs, she's there on the right. 00:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I actually wonder what kind of superpowers someone who drinks vampire blood has. This is the sort of thing we're supposed to be learning, I guess." He raises his hand to knock at the door, thinks about whether that's a good idea, and then does it. 00:03 <Crion> The building looks prefab shitty-nice. Like a hotel, but cheaper on the margins. The Johns Hopkins Medical Campus is right next door. 00:04 <Crion> As they enter the building, however they please, what are Stewart and Maggie's moods? What are they afraid of, right now? What are their Vices? 00:05 <Crion> Are they a supernatural cre--hahaha. 00:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart is slightly apprehensive but mainly he feels guilty. He watched this lady's fiance die, and then helped dispose of his body. And now he's got the nerve to prod her for information? He's still here, though. He has a job. 00:08 <dammitwho> Maggie's feeling wary. For all that Stewart reassured her, she doesn't know how to grill a grieving woman for information about her supernatural patrons. Plus, vampires are scary. There, I said it. 00:09 <VoxPVoxD> He's not really concerned about physical or psychic danger - his fear is social recrimination. Being thought stupid by Santander. Lauren getting mad at him for putting himself in danger. Him acting in a way that disappoints Maggie. 00:18 <Crion> Well, the door's right there. 00:19 <Crion> And...five seconds later...a phleghmy voice from inside. "Who is it?" 00:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Do you have a minute? We'd like to talk about Carlos." 00:27 <Crion> Both Stewart and Maggie hear a gun action work somewhere like ten feet behind the door. At farthest. "Who is it?" Jen(?) asks again. 00:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart sucks in a breath. "My name's Stewart. My friend is Maggie. We're trying to find out more about the people who got Carlos into trouble. We're not here on behalf of anyone. We're not cops. We're not..." He hazards a guess. "...them." 00:32 <Crion> There's a pause, then the door cracks open a little bit. You can see her left hand on the door itself; her right is just off behind the frame. 00:32 <Crion> "Everyone's here on behalf of someone," she says. 00:33 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You're right. I'm... I'm a researcher. I'm trying to collect information on... on them. To protect people." 00:34 <Crion> "...The people who killed Carlos?" 00:34 <Crion> She opens the door a little bit more, but it's still chained. 00:37 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah. Listen, I get if you don't want to talk. I can't imagine what you're going through. We don't want to make any more trouble for you. But the stuff Carlos was involved in... people get hurt." 00:38 <Crion> "No shit." 00:38 <Crion> "That's why he joined you. You were supposed to STOP this!" 00:39 <Crion> "You know what," she snarls, "I think you should just--" 00:39 <Crion> "Jen!" comes a new voice from just over Stewart's left shoulder. 00:39 <Crion> "Jen. Jennifer." 00:40 <Crion> There is now an incredibly handsome changeling standing between Stewart and Maggie, smiling, smelling like the mountains. Mid-fifties. Fairest, definitely. 00:42 <Crion> The Mainer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ert77QOuPw4 Don't let your life pass you by; weep not for memories. 00:42 <dammitwho> Huh. 00:43 <Crion> The cop goes from suspicious to shocked and then back, and then back again. "Jeremiah...?" 00:43 <Crion> "Hi Jennifer. I'm sorry, Stewart and Maggie here were just a bit too aggressive. We would like to talk. About what we can do for you." 00:44 <Crion> Looking at Stewart. "They're with the law firm that will be handling Carlos's case." 00:44 <VoxPVoxD> Shit, that's good. Gotta remember that one. 00:44 <VoxPVoxD> Also oh fuck. 00:46 <dammitwho> Crap. She doesn't know anything about the law. Should she have bought some fake glasses? 00:48 <Crion> Officer Gonzalez steps back, holsters the gun that was in her right hand, and opens the door. She lives well enough, but frugally. There's little decoration. No art. Two pictures of someone Stewart saw stabbed through the brain after being executed. 00:49 <Crion> "I don't have anything to drink. Please sit," she says. 00:50 <Crion> She'll do so first. 00:51 <dammitwho> Time like this, they should be around friends and family. Damned shame, even if she is a cop. Maggie'll find a seat. 00:52 <Crion> "Do you have the shooter?" Jen will ask first. 00:53 <Crion> "No," says 'Jeremiah.' "We might not ever. You know how it works. Catch and kill. Here today, gone tomorrow. We may never bury those bodies. We may never unbury them." 00:53 <Crion> "What's important to us are the people who got Carlos killed." 00:54 <Crion> "The people made the shooters, in someone's opinion, necessary." 00:54 <Crion> She nods hollowly. 00:54 <VoxPVoxD> He's so good at this. Like an actual detective. 00:55 <Crion> "We promised to do right by Carlos, and we're going to do right by you. He said we'd get in touch?" 00:55 <Crion> She nods again and then hunches over so you can't see her face. "Don't say it like that." 00:55 <Crion> "I'm not looking for a pay out." 00:56 <Crion> "I'm sorry," 'Jeremiah' says. "No one was implying you were." 00:57 <Crion> "But when Carlos entered into an understanding with us, it was clear that should something happen to him, you'd be taken care of." 00:57 <Crion> Jennifer nods. She's started to cry. 00:58 <Crion> The rest of the meeting will take only a few moments, with 'Jeremiah' smoothing things over and giving her advice as to how, specifically, the trust in Carlos Urrutia's name will be disbursed. Soon, it's time to go. Unless either Stewart or Maggie would like to interject. 00:58 <VoxPVoxD> Nnnnno. No, that's fine. 00:59 <dammitwho> Maggie will just try to project good will. 00:59 <Crion> Then, once the grieving almost-widow has thanked all three of your profusely and shown you out to the hall, closed the door, and locked and bolted it, 'Jeremiah' will say: "Stairwell." 01:00 <Crion> And begin marching to the stairwell. 01:00 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart goes to the stairwell. 01:01 <Crion> When all three of them are alone, the genteel mask falls away to angry confusion. "So would someone like to tell me what the fuck is going on? Because I thought we had an understanding here! And fucking with the widow was not part of my understanding!" 01:02 <Crion> "Jesus CHRIST!" 01:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's stunned into silence. 01:04 <dammitwho> Calmly, because this guy isn't a vampire and so things are relatively less alarming: "Mister, you've got us wrong here. We're not from whoever you think we're from." 01:05 <Crion> He barks a laugh. Pointing at Stewart: "Autumn." Pointing at Maggie: "Spring. I know precisely who you--" 01:05 <Crion> He pauses. 01:05 <Crion> "But you have no idea who the fuck I am." 01:05 <Crion> "Oh my fucking god." 01:05 <Crion> "Kingsley doesn't know you're out here, does he." 01:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, finally: "No, we're doing research. We're not- we didn't know about any deal." 01:07 <Crion> He leans back cooly against the stairwell rail and smiles. "Well, shit. That's...well, it's much better than the alternative." 01:07 <Crion> Calling up the stairwell: "We're good." 01:08 <Crion> Suddenly, there's a young woman perched on the rail right next to the handsome older man. And she's smiling. With fangs. 01:08 <dammitwho> Gah! 01:09 <Crion> The Girl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MrRi-2nokM And then my eyes got used to the darkness, and everyone that I knew, was lost and so long forgotten after you. 01:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart can't control his gut emotional response, which is to hiss "Aw, sick!" 01:10 <Crion> "Lady," she says. "Gentleman."? 01:10 <Crion> -? 01:11 <Crion> "I'm the Mainer," he says. "She's a...well, you know. Let's take a walk." 01:11 <dammitwho> "Hello," She manages to get out without having to clear her throat. 01:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's nice to meet you. I'm really sorry about this. This was- I made a mistake. About how to proceed." 01:13 <Crion> The Mainer is already sauntering downstairs. "Let's have that conversation somewhere else." 01:13 <Crion> The Girl shrugs and backflips off the rail, falling four stories and landing perfectly. 01:15 <Crion> Once they're outside, the temperature is down around 60 degrees. Neither the Mainer nor the Girl seem to feel it. 01:19 <Crion> Slightly smiling, the Girl says: "We don't hold a grudge." 01:19 <Crion> The Mainer grimaces. "Yeah, Carlos was a piece of shit. So were the other two. Always liked Jenny, though." 01:19 <Crion> "She'll move on from this better." 01:19 <Crion> "Maybe find another job." 01:24 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah. I hope so. Like I said I'm - I completely fucked up here. I'm supposed to be researching..." To the Girl: "I don't know if there's a socially acceptable word I should be saying, or what. You know what I mean. I got asked by a man named Santander to do research on... you guys. To keep the Court informed." 01:24 <Crion> The Girl cackles at that before politely covering her mouth. The Mainer: "Well, the good news on that is we'll keep the Court informed too." 01:25 <Crion> "I am the ambassador for the Court of Baltimore." 01:26 <Crion> "To the Freehold of Baltimore." 01:26 <Crion> "I literally have an office in your building." 01:27 <Crion> He shrugs. "Don't ever go there, though." 01:27 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Oh, for the love of Pete." 01:27 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "They don't really... advertise that kind of thing, I don't think." 01:27 <VoxPVoxD> "Like I doubt half the Freehold even knows there is an Ambassador." 01:27 <Crion> To Stewart: "They don't." To Maggie: "Peter was worse than Judas." 01:28 <Crion> The Girl sort of waggles her hand. 01:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So yeah, uh. In the absence of... harrassing a widow... do you have any advice on who I could tap to answer some questions? Would you be willing? I realize that's a ridiculous imposition." 01:34 <Crion> The Mainer: "You lended warm bodies to my attempt to smooth things over with a grieving woman, which went off fantastically, and I have to have lunch with both of your bosses next week. So yeah. I can help." 01:34 <Crion> The Girl's eye-roll is almost audible. 01:35 <Crion> The Mainer: "Don't mind her. It's not that she dislikes you." 01:35 <Crion> "It's just that she doesn't like you yet." 01:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We could've made a better first impression." 01:36 <Crion> The Girl: "Not you." 01:36 <Crion> The Girl: "Her, perhaps." 01:36 <Crion> The Mainer: "...She means your first impression was, ah, decided for you." 01:37 <dammitwho> "Eh?" 01:37 <Crion> "After all, the Court of Baltimore did consign those three men to death with knowing aforethought." 01:37 <Crion> "Because they were shitheads and fuckups." 01:38 <Crion> The Girl, to Maggie: "You could murdered an Englishman." 01:38 <Crion> *could have 01:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart wonders if Maggie and Canterbury would get along. Maybe. Canterbury eats food, right? 01:39 <Crion> He's a twenty-something who smokes weed, so. 01:39 <Crion> Yes. 01:40 <dammitwho> Maggie has no idea what they're talking about. She could've murdered an Englishman? 01:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Murdered an Englishman?" 01:44 <Crion> The Mainer: "What she means to say is if you wanted to put your best foot forward, you'd have brutally murdered one of the white men who partitioned the Middle East. It was a joke." He smiles. "But it wasn't really a joke. Now, Stewart. Santander has this game he likes to play." 01:44 <Crion> "I think it's stupid, but I also think it's useful." 01:46 <Crion> "Stop me if this sounds familiar: Three questions. I don't answer one, you get another." 01:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah, I know this one." 01:47 <Crion> The Mainer: "It's a better getting-to-know-you schtick than everyone going around the circle and sharing one fact about themselves, I'll give the old bastard that." 01:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What's the relationship between the Court of Baltimore and the Freehold of Baltimore?" 01:49 <Crion> The Girl: "Too close." 01:52 <Crion> The Mainer: "...Very good terms. We've been close for some fifteen years now. Since all that shit with Mere Jacoby. That sort of sealed things; it's not...common...to have full-time ambassadors like me. At least that's my understanding. And when things get too interesting, it takes up a lot of my time." 01:53 <Crion> The Girl: "As I said, too close." 01:59 <dammitwho> Need to bring back some useful information for an internet encyclopedia. Encyclopedia entry stuff... Well, if Santander didn't see fit to tell Stewart there was an ambassador he could talk to, he can't complain when he gets the basic headings. "How is the Court of Baltimore structured?" 02:03 <Crion> The Mainer glances over at the Girl, who shrugs. Then he says: "We don't have a King. We have a Prince." 02:03 <Crion> "...Well, a Princeling." 02:04 <Crion> "And a Lord Regent." 02:04 <Crion> The Girl: "Except the Princeling is over 300 years old, so perhaps he's just lazy." 02:04 <Crion> The Mainer: "And perhaps you shouldn't be saying that in mixed company." 02:05 <Crion> The Girl rolls her eyes again. "If he wishes to come kill his Sheriff, I'd welcome it. At least it wouldn't be gaming all the time." 02:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What kind of games does he play?" 02:06 <VoxPVoxD> Oh fuck that was the third question. 02:07 <Crion> The Girl: "Oh, I don't know. Some space shooter where you go to the moon. Fate? Desire?" 02:07 <VoxPVoxD> "Destiny." 02:07 <Crion> "Yes, this." 02:07 <Crion> She waves. "Your people enable this." 02:08 <VoxPVoxD> "Our people?" 02:08 <Crion> With dripping digust: "Do you think vampires are stupid enough to game against their Prince? When he takes it seriously?" 02:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Oh. Yeah, I see your point." 02:09 <Crion> The Mainer: "I think we'll just put a pin in that for now. What's the third que--" 02:09 <Crion> He frowns as his phone buzzes. 02:09 <Crion> He checks it. 02:09 <Crion> "Oh for fuck's sake--" 02:10 <Crion> He calls a number. "What the fuck are-- shut the fuck up, what the fuck are-- no. NO!" 02:10 <Crion> "God DAMMIT!" 02:10 <VoxPVoxD> Uh 02:11 <Crion> He looks around the block; his eyes fall on an expensive SUV parked cat-corner from the Johns Hopkins Medical Center. He turns to Maggie and Stewart. "Are either of you any good at stealing cars?" 02:11 <Crion> They've wandered maybe five blocks from where Stewart parked. 02:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think I can do it, yeah." 02:12 <VoxPVoxD> "Any particular car?" 02:12 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Guess it depends. Can't get my head around these computerized things." 02:12 <Crion> The Girl: "You know, I could just carry him back to his." 02:12 <Crion> "Like I do you." 02:14 <Crion> The Mainer irritably waves his hand -- someone's coming out of the center, might be the car owner -- and suddenly The Girl has snatched Stewart up in a damsel in distress carry, the world blurs around them, and she plops him down, seated, on the hood of his car. 02:14 <Crion> Five blocks down. 02:15 <Crion> Then she blinks and reappears in his passenger seat. 02:16 <VoxPVoxD> Holy shit-- "Hooly shit." 02:16 <Crion> "You wanted research," she says smugly. 02:17 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's a little flushed. "I... appreciate that. Would you mind if I asked you one more question?" 02:18 <Crion> "As long as you drive as you ask." 02:18 <dammitwho> ? 02:19 <Crion> To Mainer and Maggie, to pick them up. 02:19 <Crion> Since they're both, of course, five blocks away. 02:20 <VoxPVoxD> The car's off seconds later. "What do you think is the most important thing a changeling can know about vampires?" 02:21 <Crion> "Any vampire who wishes to feed off of a changeling is dangerously insane. Your blood is acid mixed with PCP. I am with S...The Mainer precisely because I will never be tempted to try." 02:22 <Crion> She'll slide lithely into the backseat as Stewart pulls up on an irritated-looking Mainer and Maggie. 02:23 <dammitwho> "Neat!" 02:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Thank you both, I really appreciate your help." 02:26 <Crion> "Thanks." The Mainer shows you his phone. "Drive." 02:26 <Crion> It's got a Google maps thing on it. 02:26 <Crion> You're headed to Canton. 02:27 <Crion> It's probably late enough that there aren't too many drunks on the street, even, when you arrive. These are some of the jumped-up rowhomes, renovated then sold to white frat guys at twice the price, that sit on the edge of the neighborhood. 02:32 <VoxPVoxD> Man. He's not sure if it's getting older and noticing it more, or the stuff Melanie's been sending him to read, or the time away, or a real rot, but everything seems sadder than it did before he left. "What's here?" 02:33 <Crion> "Two cops." The Mainer throws open the door before Stewart even stops. "And someone stupider than two cops." 02:34 <Crion> Right on cue, from down an alley between two rowhouses: "FUCKKK, DUDE!!" 02:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Do you want us to wait here, or?" 02:34 <Crion> Then a loud, loud crash. 02:34 <Crion> The Mainer: "No." 02:34 <VoxPVoxD> Shit-- 02:34 <Crion> "We need witnesses." 02:34 <Crion> ... 02:35 <Crion> The Girl has disappeared. 02:35 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks at Maggie. 02:35 <Crion> The Mainer is heading for the alley. 02:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart follows. 02:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stays behind to lock the car first. Common sense. 02:36 <dammitwho> She shrugs, and follows The Mainer. 02:37 <dammitwho> What a strange night. 02:37 <Crion> SMASH! CRASH! "Augh -- *cough*" 02:39 <Crion> When you make the alley, there's a guy with a lanyard with a badge on it around his neck taking a changeling's head and beating into the half-broken window of a Ford Fusion. Behind him, there's a police sergeant still in half his dress outfit with his service weapon drawn. Stewart will recognize them: Barston doing the assault, Lossum, the sergeant, covering him. 02:39 <Crion> Neither of you have ever seen the changeling before. He looks like a little shithead. Winter Court. 02:40 <Crion> "It's fine!! It's fine," the changeling coughs. "This is my job." 02:40 <Crion> "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" screams the cop. 02:41 <Crion> Cider Stitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcLIye3EVpg Want you to take me to the H, take me to the O, want you to take me to the S, take me to the P, want you to take me to the I-T-A-L; want you to take me to the hospital. 02:42 <Crion> Anything worth doing's worth getting hurt for. 02:42 <Crion> The Mainer: "What the fuck are you doing." 02:42 <Crion> Barston: "I SAID--" 02:43 <Crion> The Mainer: "I wasn't fucking talking to you, son." 02:47 <Crion> The cop in the undershirt snorts and throws the kid to the ground. He looks maybe 22. And like a little dirtbag fuck up. He's smiling around bloody teeth. 02:47 <Crion> The Mainer: "Asked what you were doing, Cider." 02:48 <Crion> Cider: "These guys don't just get to beat on Sarah and get away with it." 02:48 <Crion> The Mainer: "The Court and the Freehold came to an agreement about who--" 02:49 <Crion> Cider: "Fuck your agreement!" 02:50 <Crion> Cider: "How many times have I got cut up over you! And now this shit, you just let go--" 02:50 <Crion> Lossum levels his gun...at Stewart. "Hey there, Mainer." 02:50 <Crion> The Mainer: "Hey there, Sergeant." 02:50 <Crion> "You need to be careful where you point that." 02:50 <Crion> Lossum: "I'm being very careful." 02:51 <Crion> To Stewart and Maggie: "Who the fuck are you two?" 02:51 <Crion> "More freaks?" 02:52 <dammitwho> Quietly: "There is no need to be rude." 02:52 <Crion> Lossum: "The fuck you just say to me?" 02:52 <Crion> "I'm a COP!" 02:52 <Crion> "I'M POLICE!" 02:52 <Crion> "That used to MEAN SOMETHING!" 02:53 <Crion> "And now--now allllllll of you--" 02:53 <Crion> The Mainer: "Lossum, you need to calm down." 02:53 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, slowly. "Sorry, Sergeant. I promised not to get shot." 02:54 <Crion> He turns the gun on Stewart. "Oh, you promised? You promised? I hear a lot about promises. Well let's shit in one hand and promise in the other, and see what--" 02:54 <Crion> The Mainer, clinically: "Do it." 02:55 <Crion> The Girl turns Lossum's head backwards, then leaps on the screaming Barston and, quite literally, eats him alive. 02:55 <Crion> The Mainer, to Stewart, without looking away: "This good enough? For your research?" 02:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart doesn't flinch. "...Yeah." 02:56 <Crion> Cider Stitch crawls out from underneath the battered car. "I think I might need a ride somewhere they have doctors." 02:57 <dammitwho> Most of Mags' emotions seem to physically locate themselves in her gut, a product of her reshaping, perhaps. Watching a cop slam some dumb kid into a car door, whether or not he had it coming (which, he probably did) reveals some hot coals down at the bottom of the furnace: mounting anger. They can't jSWEET MARY MOSES 02:57 <Crion> The Mainer kicks him in the shoulder which, it should be noted, is one of the few places he hasn't been hurt. "You fucking asshole. The fuck did you have to go do this shit for. I should leave you." 02:57 <Crion> Cider: "Told you why I did it." 02:57 <Crion> The Mainer: "...Yeah." 02:58 <Crion> "Johns Hopkins is just up the street." 02:58 <Crion> "Should make you walk." 02:59 <Crion> He looks over at Stewart and Maggie questioningly. 02:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We can give you a ride." 02:59 <dammitwho> "Might as well." 03:00 <Crion> The Girl stands and wipes her mouth. "We'll have to explain this to the Primacy." 03:01 <Crion> The Mainer pulls Cider to his please. "Yeah. We will." 03:01 <Crion> "We'll say 'fuck the police.'" 03:01 <dammitwho> "Whom?" 03:01 <Crion> The Girl: "The Prince isn't the only power." 03:02 <Crion> The Mainer: "They've used up their questions." 03:02 <Crion> The Girl: "Ugh." 03:03 <Crion> *pulls Cider to his feet 03:04 <Crion> They get Cider to the hospital quickly. He's covered by Freehold plan. The Mainer and the Girl are gone when you turn your back once. 03:04 <Crion> Just another night in Baltimore. 03:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart turns to Maggie on their way out. "Are you hungry? There's a diner nearby that's open until 5." 03:08 <dammitwho> Reflexively: "I could eat." Could she? Yes, she decides. 03:11 <VoxPVoxD> The place is called Sip & Bite and it's a totally ordinary diner, not quite emptied of the late night crew before the true graveyard doomers roll in. Soon they're in a booth with menus. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was going to get so... like that." 03:14 <dammitwho> Maggie: "That was something else, wasn't it?" 03:14 <dammitwho> "...do you know who Sarah is?" 03:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shakes his head. "I don't think so." 03:17 <dammitwho> She looks around the diner slowly, then back to Stewart, and whistles under her breath. "Well. Do you think you got enough for Santander?" 03:18 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I don't know. I hope so. I think it's useful information. I don't know if he was hoping for, like... stats or whatever." 03:20 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't know if this beats the Bake-Off, but it was intense." 03:21 <VoxPVoxD> "What did you make of them? The Mainer and the Sheriff." 03:24 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I don't really understand how one of us becomes their ambassador. Bet that's a story." 03:25 <VoxPVoxD> "He seemed to get along well with the Sheriff." 03:25 <VoxPVoxD> "No Mantle at all, though. That freaked me out. I thought maybe he was- you know." 03:25 <VoxPVoxD> "One of those guys." 03:26 <dammitwho> "The Sheriff... hrrurm. I'd guess we've gotta take into account that anything she showed us, I mean her reactions and responses to questions and what have you, coulda been a runaround. Camouflage. You live long enough in that kind of company, maybe it's second nature." 03:28 <dammitwho> "Putting that aside, though... They have a Prince who doesn't rule, but she technically works for him anyway, and she doesn't seem to like him much. Gal like that, I wouldn't think she'd have to stick with *anything* she didn't like. So that's interesting." 03:29 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Maybe what we got out of this is that we have more interesting questions now." 03:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I mean they've got to be even more dependent on each other than we are, right? We don't blow up in the sun." 03:29 <VoxPVoxD> "And they have to make sure not to bite too many people." 03:29 <dammitwho> "Maybe? We don't compete for, uh, food." 03:30 <VoxPVoxD> "Yeah but they still need each other. Man that sounds miserable." 03:37 <dammitwho> "Not great." She agrees. "So, figure their Prince is the strongest one. Physically, I mean. Other kinds of power, you've gotta sit up at night scheming and maintaining and stomping on peoples' fingers. Big strong guy, he can sit back and play video games because he knows it doesn't matter what anybody else does." 03:37 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Maybe he's got some magic. Like he can't be killed or something." 03:38 <dammitwho> "Then there's something called the Primacy. What makes someone a, uh, Primus? Not physical strength, or not just that, because otherwise one of 'em'd be the Prince instead." 03:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think you'd be a Primate, not a Primus." 03:39 <dammitwho> "I thought that was gorillas and chimps and what have you." 03:40 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's also a religious office. You see it sometimes in Japanese RPGs." 03:41 <dammitwho> "Could be." She nods. "Maybe put a lil' blue question mark next to that one. Vampire religion? What do vampires believe in?" 03:42 <dammitwho> "Is clerical power the only other formal kind?" 03:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I don't know why vampires couldn't just believe in whatever they already believed. It's not like people change their religious beliefs because they learn facts about the world." 03:44 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Probably do if you become a dread creature of the night, though." 03:44 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What about you?" 03:44 <dammitwho> "Hard to say. I dunno what I believed in before." 03:45 <VoxPVoxD> "Does any of--" he gestures vaguely, attempting to encompass not just their own experience but the wider, stranger world they find themselves in. "--any of this make you change how you think about God?" 03:45 <VoxPVoxD> "What do you believe now?" 03:46 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Well, now, Stewart, let me tell you something. There's two very important things I've learned, and you've helped me with both of them. You remember that song trick you showed me?" 03:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "The Hedge-Busker's Tip, yeah." 03:47 <dammitwho> "And my song's the Guysborough Line. You know where Guysborough is? What that song's about?" 03:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shakes his head. "The North, somewhere? The North Shore's begun, that North County rain, stuff like that." 03:51 <dammitwho> She nods. "Up in Canada." She pronounces it almost 'Canadar'. "Northeast, in fact. Not quite as far east as you can go - that'd be Newfoundland, probably - but pretty close. There's just about nobody that lives there... the town of Guysborough has a population of about 1000. I looked it up on your Wikipedia." 03:52 <dammitwho> "Now, the Guysborough Line... there was a time when a new government came in up north, and one thing they promised was to revitalize the area of Guysborough. They were going to build a train there, which was probably pretty exciting for the residents! New jobs, new people, a new life." 03:53 <dammitwho> She sips some coffee that she ordered that we didn't narrate. "Never happened. Construction got a ways along, and then the project was shut down." She roots around in her purse, pulls out her phone. 03:53 <dammitwho> After a few taps and swipes, she turns it around to show Stewart this: https://i.imgur.com/rST5Jsg.jpg 03:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "No train to Guysborugh, and ain't that a shame..." 03:54 <dammitwho> "Half-built bridges, cut tracks... you can walk a long, long way along the Guysborough line." 03:55 <dammitwho> "So the song's about broken promises. Isn't that funny? A gal comes out of the Hedge, and her song's about broken promises? The Wyrd has a sense of humor." 03:57 <dammitwho> Her face turns serious. "But what does it mean? Did I break a promise b- before? Or did someone break one to me? I'm not sure, but I know that when I think about it I actually start to get angry. Not spitting fire angry, low burn angry. The kind of thing that lasts a long time." 03:57 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Melanie was talking about something similar. She was thinking about, does the music come within us? That doesn't really make sense, right, because they're real songs. Did someone choose them for us? Did we take them for ourselves, and we've forgotten? She was worried that being assigned a song meant you were, you were boxed in. Defined against your will." 03:57 <VoxPVoxD> "Stuff like that really bugs her." 03:58 <VoxPVoxD> "Do you know what you're angry about? Where the anger, where it comes from?" 03:58 <dammitwho> Maggie shrugs. "Life's the stuff that defines you against your will. Anyhow, let me get to the end here. The other important thing I learned less than half an hour ago." 04:01 <dammitwho> "When that piece of shit - pardon my French - was pounding on that poor kid, I started to get real hot under the collar! That's important, because... well, I haven't been out very long, but I can count the times I've gotten properly mad on one hand. You know me, I'm a go-along-to-get-along sort, right?" 04:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 04:02 <dammitwho> "So. The things I care about right now. Safety, friends, family... those are all important, but they're not really beliefs. They're just..." She waves a hand. "Living in a village." 04:04 <VoxPVoxD> "Right." 04:04 <dammitwho> "I think if I'm going to find out what I believe, it's going to be around the shape of that anger. What I'm angry about, who made me angry. Getting back what I lost in the Hedge, the kind of thing that drives a person to stick a thumb in some other fella's eye." 04:05 <dammitwho> Maggie: "What do I believe? Not sure yet. But I've got some bearings now, thanks to you." She raises her mug, takes another sip. 04:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I guess you don't like bullies." 04:08 <dammitwho> "Feh! Who does?" 04:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Well like... it's the cops, right? A lot of people like the cops." 04:12 <VoxPVoxD> "My dad likes the cops. He was a- he worked in the State's Attorney's office. He was a prosecutor." 04:13 <dammitwho> "Huurrm." 04:19 <dammitwho> Maggie: "People who never have to see them, or people who they work for, maybe." 04:20 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "...yeah, I guess." 04:23 <VoxPVoxD> "It never seems like--" he's cutting up his 'chop steak', which seems to be a hamburger without a bun covered in onions and gravy. "--I dunno. Like... you, just now. You made this mean something for you. You tied it back to to the time before." 04:23 <dammitwho> Poor Stewart. Actually having living family must be hard. 04:24 <VoxPVoxD> "Like, I know where my dad lives. I saw photos from his last cookout Labor Day weekend. What my mom looks like." 04:24 <VoxPVoxD> "I know what *I'm* supposed to look like. Who I'm supposed to be with." 04:24 <VoxPVoxD> "They're thinking about buying a house." 04:27 <VoxPVoxD> "And then on the other side of it, there's you, who's wise enough to turn watching a man getting his head twisted off showed you a piece of your truth self. You see Melanie, who's like, the smartest person I've ever met, killing trees to make sense of being one." 04:28 <VoxPVoxD> "And then Nels, she basically got beamed onto another planet, and what? Where's her story? What's the meaning of that?" 04:29 <dammitwho> "Poor Nels. 1920 was so long ago." 04:32 <VoxPVoxD> "So, so what? What's the lesson? What is it supposed to mean?" 04:36 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I wish I could pull something good or helpful out of that for you. It just..." 04:36 <dammitwho> "It just sucks." 04:38 <dammitwho> "S'why I always love to see you coming up to the Wherehouse, or spending time with that Lauren gal. I feel like when you're grieving you should be around people. Maybe that's just me." 04:40 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You can't grieve if nobody dies." 04:40 <VoxPVoxD> "That's the joke. You lose your life but you don't die. A Zen master would eat that up." 04:40 <dammitwho> "People don't have to die for you to lose them." 04:41 <VoxPVoxD> "They're right there--" 04:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart stops himself. 04:41 <VoxPVoxD> "...you're right. I'm sorry." 04:42 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Nothing for you to apologize for." 04:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's eyes are red. "You don't have to apologize to be sorry." 04:46 <dammitwho> She squeezes his hand silently. 04:50 <dammitwho> She sniffs, wipes her eyes. "...your chop steak alright?" 04:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "...yeah. How's your--" What did she get? 04:56 <dammitwho> 'Breakfast sampler'. Two eggs and cheese, sausage, pancakes, toast. 04:57 <dammitwho> "S'alright for 3AM. If I were here at 8 I'd want to know what exactly they thought they were doing with this cheese. Guy didn't even melt it!" 04:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I wonder what kind of stuff you could overhear in a diner if you knew to listen." 05:01 <VoxPVoxD> "Like, think about it. A bunch of people sit in a diner at 3 in the morning, in 2019, talking about vampires and hobgoblins... you're thinking, like, movies or video games or something." 05:01 <dammitwho> "How do you mean?" 05:01 <VoxPVoxD> "But if you know..." 05:02 <dammitwho> Maggie: "...you're still probably thinking movies or video games or something. Unless knowing makes you a weird paranoid, which now that I think about it seems pretty likely." 05:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'm still thinking video games... but I'm thinking a little longer about it, you know?" 05:03 <VoxPVoxD> "You just sort of... like there's a frequency there you didn't know people were broadcasting on." 05:05 <dammitwho> She nods enthusiastically. "Oh, for sure. You ever listen to Deb of Night?" 05:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shakes his head. "Is that a podcast?" 05:11 <dammitwho> "Radio! Come on now, nobody listens to regular ol' radio anymore? 'Hello Baltimore, you're listening to: The Deb of Night. Broadcasting from Los Angeles and our sister stations in Chicago, New York, Miami, and Aqua Vitae, Texas.'" In a confidential tone: "I was just tickled pink when I learned they do some kind of internet streaming radio thing so I can get it in the Wherehouse." 05:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What's the Deb of Night about? Is it like a call-in show?" 05:16 <dammitwho> "Mostly. She reads news sometimes, music occasionally... it seems like a one-woman show, so she pretty much does as she pleases. Some of the people who call in are real looney tunes, you know? UFOes and shadow men and alternate dimensions and such. But you know what? Knowing some of 'em might be right makes it even better." 05:17 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "If there's a vampire Prince that games all day, then it stands to reason there are vampires who make crackpot calls into radio shows too." 05:17 <VoxPVoxD> "Not the guys that are on during the day, Rush Limbaugh or whatever. No, apparently that's Nazi werewolves." 05:19 <dammitwho> "Eesh. I hope they're not all like that." 05:20 <VoxPVoxD> "It didn't sound like they were." 05:21 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hmm. What do you suppose werewolves do all day?" 05:23 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I bet they've got day jobs. Werewolf electrician, werewolf nurse, stuff like that." 05:23 <VoxPVoxD> "And then, at night, the moon just messes them up." 05:24 <dammitwho> Maggie: "When do they find time to sleep? No wonder werewolfs are so cranky." 05:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "How deep into the horror catalogue can we go, here? Are there lagoon monsters? Mummies? Frankensteins?" 05:26 <VoxPVoxD> "Aliens?" 05:27 <VoxPVoxD> "What if all those crackpot callers are right?" 05:33 <dammitwho> "Makes you think."